Sudhamoy Pramanick (September 1884 – October 1974) was a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

advocate from Shantipur. He was the lifetime secretary of the ''Tili Samaj'', a societal benefit organization. In his time he was one of the fortunate Presidencians - a year senior to Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India. He was a social activist - member of the executive committee of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

and involved with the

Satyagraha Satyagraha ( sa, सत्याग्रह; ''satya'': "truth", ''āgraha'': "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), or "holding firmly to truth",' or "truth force", is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. Someone w ...

movement to campaign for Indian independence. __TOC__

Early life, education and career

Sudhamoy was the eldest of ten siblings born to the Pramanick / Pramanik family in 1884 in Shantipur. He did his early schooling in Shantipur and went on to the Presidency College, Calcutta to acquire his degree in science in the early 1900s. Later he obtained a degree in law from the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

and practiced in

Raiganj Raiganj () is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Uttar Dinajpur district. The police station was set up 125 years ago and railway connectivity reached the place 115 years ago. The city h ...

and the Sealdah courts as an advocate. He was elected as one of the Commissioners of Shantipur Municipality in Dec 1913 and remained in this position till August 1915. He was literarily inclined. Being well versed in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

and influenced by the Müllerian wave of exploring the ancient Indian language, he translated and edited papers on Sanskrit literature. As a secretary of the ''Tili Samaj'' he was vociferous against social evils like the ''Pon protha (

Dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment b ...

)'' in the ''Bangiya Tili Samaj Patrika''. In his presidency days he met many nationalists. In 1919, he was a member of the 'moderate' Indian National Liberation Foundation led by

Surendranath Bannerjee Sir Surendranath Banerjee often known as Rashtraguru ( bn, Rāṣṭraguru, Teacher of the Nation; 10 November 18486 August 1925) was Indian nationalist leader during the British Rule. He founded a nationalist organization called the Indian Nati ...

- one of the founders of the

; but who left the Congress, since he favoured accommodation and dialogue with the British. He went on to support the Congress and joined as a senior leader during his tenure at the Raigunj Court. When the

Civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...

broke out in the 1930, Sudhamoy took an active role as a Congress member from Raigunj. Raigunj celebrated Independence day (Purna Swaraj) on 26 January 1930 against the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

- he and ''Umeshchandra Bhowmik'' were the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

leaders enacting the historic Lahore resolution of the CWC. In March 1930, as mass disobedience gathered momentum in Bengal, several Congress leaders (including

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945 * * * * * * * * *) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperia ...

- then Bengal Provincial Congress Committee President), were arrested. On 15 April, on the occasion of the Bengali New Year, Sudhamoy presided over public meetings in Raigunj as a part of the

Civil Disobedience Movement The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. The twenty-four day march lasted from 12 March to 6 April 1930 as a di ...

in blatant violation of the Salt Laws. Braving arrests by the British, volunteers from all over the district, including women, paraded the streets of Raigunj.

Amrita Bazar Patrika ''Amrita Bazar Patrika'' was one of the oldest daily newspapers in India. Originally published in Bengali script, it evolved into an English format published from Kolkata and other locations such as Cuttack, Ranchi and Allahabad. The paper di ...

, 18 April 1930 ABP 1930 18 Apr

Few years later he moved to Calcutta. With his eldest sons completing their education, he started devoting more time in Sealdah Civil Court - fighting to free many an activist - at times risking his career. He was also known for helping poor students. ABP 27 Jan 1930 - sudhamoy

The Pramanick family

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pramanick, Sudhamoy University of Calcutta alumni Presidency University, Kolkata alumni Indian independence activists from West Bengal 1884 births 1974 deaths Diptendu Pramanick Shantipur Indian National Congress politicians from West Bengal People from Nadia district